Initial Assesment

First aid is the provision of immediate care to a victim with an injury or illness, usually affected by a lay person, and performed within a limited skill range. First aid is normally performed until the injury or illness is satisfactorily dealt with (such as in the case of small cuts, minor bruises, and blisters) or until the next level of care, such as a paramedic or doctor, arrives.

Guiding Principles

The key guiding principles and purpose of first aid is:

Preserve life

Prevent further injury

Promote recovery

Educating even a few people in first aid improves the safety of everyone they come into contact with.

Teaching first aid also provides an opportunity for teaching safety, prevention and risk reduction measures, as part of the first aid curriculum.

A person trained in first aid and cpr is more motivated to avoid personal injury, because their first aid training gives them a greater appreciation of the potential serious consequences.

Person trained in first aid/cpr can be taught to appreciate the importance of safety, prevention and risk reduction. This makes them an ideal advocate for spreading safety awareness to others in their organization or family.

Emergency & Initial Action

Protecting Yourself

First aid responders are never required to place themselves in a situation which might put them in danger. Remember, you cannot help a victim if you become a victim yourself.

When a first aider is called upon to deal with a victim, they must always remember to safeguard themselves in the first instance and then assess the situation. Only after these steps are completed can treatment of the victim begin.

When called to a scene, remember that your own personal safety is above all else. Before you enter a scene, put on personal protective equipment, especially impermeable gloves.

As you approach a scene, you need to be aware of the dangers which might be posed to you as a first aider, or to the victim. These can include obviously dangerous factors such as traffic, gas or chemical leaks, live electrical items, buildings on fire or falling objects.

Always use common sense and remember the big D for Danger.

Once you have assessed the scene for danger, you should continue to be aware of changes to the situation or the environment that could present danger to you or your victim until you have left the scene.

If there are dangers which you cannot mitigate by your actions, then STAY CLEAR and call the emergency services. Remember to never put yourself in harm’s way.

As You Approach the Scene:

Assess the Scene – Where are you? Has anything here caused the injury? What time of day is it? What are the weather conditions?

Look for Clues – Things that could help you determine the reason for the patient’s illness or injury may be obvious.

Get some Information – If there are witnesses, ask them what’s happened “Did you see what happened here?”

Look for obvious:

Bleeding, or wounds

Irregular skin color or body temperature

Medical ID bracelets or necklaces

Obvious signals of pain

Responsiveness

Once you are confident that there is no danger to yourself in the situation, the next step is to assess how your victim responds to you.

This can be started with an initial responsiveness check as you approach the victim. This is best as a form of greeting and question, such as:

“Hello, I’m here to help you. Are you alright?”

What is your name?

Where are you hurt?

Where do you feel pain?

Do you have any medical conditions?

Are you taking any medications?

The best result would be the victim looking at you and replying. This means that the victim is alert at this time.

If the victim looks at you spontaneously, can communicate (even if it doesn’t make sense) or seems to have control of their body, they can be assessed as Alert.

Key indicators on the victim are their;

Eyes – Are they open spontaneously?

Response to voice – Do they reply? Do they seem to understand?

If the victim is not alert, but you can get them to open their eyes, or obey a command by talking to them, then you can say that they are responsive to Voice.

If you feel that there is a life-threatening emergencyAlways call 9-1-1 for life threatening emergency!

Important Things To Remember:

DO NOT give care to a conscious person who refuses it

If a person does not give consent and require assistance, call 9-1-1 or your local emergency number.

If the conscious person is an infant or child, get permission from the parent or guardian if present to assist with first aid.

If parent or guardian is not present consent applies

If the person is unconscious or unable to respond consent is implied. Implied consent means you can assume that if the person could respond, he or she would agree to be cared for.

The risk of getting a disease while giving first aid is very low. When you follow standard precautions, you can reduce the risk even further. When you give care, ALWAYS administer care in ways that protect you and the victim from disease transmission.

Whenever Possible:

Avoid contact with blood or other body fluids

Avoid touching objects that may be soiled with blood or other body fluids

Cover any cuts or scrapes on your body before putting on protective equipment such as gloves

Whenever Possible Use:

protective eye wear

resuscitation masks

face shields

disposable gloves

OSHA Standards

Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) required practices of infectious control to protect employees from exposure to blood and other potentially infectious materials. These precautions require that all human blood and body fluids and body substances be treated as if known to be infectious with hepatitis B, C virus, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), or other blood borne pathogens.

Training programs are guided by OSHA standards but could vary from region to region.